Sunday, June 28, 2009

I guess with the death of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett on Thursday, I'm no longer the only one noticing the high number of celebrities dying. Ed McMahon died the same day, and I just read that Billy Mays died today. You know, he was that guy selling some kind of cleaning product like OxyClean, booming a big voice.

Here's an example:

But Shaun's friend Nick just posted this on Facebook:

THAT'S RIGHT! THERE'S A NEW WAY TO GET CAT HAIR OFF THE COUCH! BY APPLYING BILLY MAYS' DEAD BODY TO YOUR COUCH, YOU CAN ACTUALLY SOAK UP THAT CAT HAIR AND LEAVE YOUR COUCH SPOTLESS! AND NOW BILLY MAYS' DEAD BODY COMES WITH A FREE CARRYING CASE! NO MORE DROPPING YOUR DEAD BILLY MAYS EVERY TIME YOU NEED TO USE HIM! HE JUST FOLDS RIGHT INTO THIS POUCH AND CAN SIT ANYWHERE IN YOUR HOUSE! AND GUESS WHAT ELSE? ...

LOL... There's also a joke about Michael Jackon's 99% plastic body being melted into Legos "so little kids can play with him for a change," but that's... well, I guess I just shared it didn't I?

Fact is, folks, people die all the time. We just tend to care more when they were famous. I was never a Michael Jackson fan, never saw an episode of Charlie's Angels (much less the new movies), never bought OxyClean, and I don't even remember what Ed McMahon did to be famous. I don't care.

... Unless... It's a government conspiracy to blind us all as to what's REALLY going on!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

My birthday was last Wednesday. People who know me in person can't believe I'm 23, as these facial blemishes make me look younger, and people who know me online thought I was older.

Well, as my computer had just recovered from a virus, I spent a pitiful amount of time re-installing programs I'd lost that I needed. (The nice thing about starting fresh was that I had a better idea of what programs I actually use.)

Later, I went over to Wal-Mart on the bus, because I'd seen some DVDs on a discount rack the last time I'd been there that I decided I'd like to pick up. They were gone. I looked around for a bit, and found nothing to tempt my wallet (nothing that I could afford, and most of what I couldn't, I knew I didn't need), so I bought some groceries. (Including some cupcakes and ice cream cones for ice cream I'd already had at home.)

I got home, put my groceries away, found nothing in the mail, and went back to the computer.

Later, Shaun called and offered to pick me up a little early. While I was waiting for him to arrive, I got a call from Tim Armstrong, who needed technical assistance with downloading a video. I offered to do it for him, but unfortunately, could not get it done. Tim said it was okay, and I left with Shaun, who had arrived.

We went over to his and Audrey's place first, where it was fun with cats and a laser pointer. Then, we went to pick Audrey up from work, then over to Aaron and Jessica's, then to Lambert's Cafe in Ozark.

It took us an hour to get seated. I'd tried to eat little, if anything, the whole day because it's very easy to get full at Lambert's. Well, let it suffice to say that even with that, no one at our table had seconds, though some had leftovers. (I didn't finish my "fried apples," but I didn't take them with me.)

We went back to A&J's, where we let our stomachs settle before getting into the ice cream I'd bought. Only Audrey, Aaron and I had any of the cupcakes, and I took all of those leftovers back home.

I had my camcorder on me the whole day, and filmed some video. Audrey and Jessica asked that they be edited out, but I couldn't get every bit of Audrey out. I filmed about nine minutes of footage, and edited that down to the video you see below:

When I got home, I found four big, soft wrapped packages outside my door. Without opening them (which I did the next morning), I instantly (and correctly) guessed it was a bedding set from my mother. When I got in, I found messages on my answering machine from my little brother. For some reason, they couldn't seem to get the idea that I may have had plans and had expected that I'd be home that night. On the second message, he asked, "Can we stay the night?" I thought, "If it was that pressing, couldn't they have thought that I might be with Audrey and call her?"

I tried calling to my brother Drew's place, but I got no answer (as usual). Later, when my parents did manage to get me on the phone, they said they weren't going to ask what I was doing.

What, did they think I was at a bar getting drunk off my head? Don't they know me at all?

*Sigh*

This past year, I think the lesson I can definitely say I've learned is to focus better. (Sadly, this doesn't mean I'll get videos and blogs and podcasts out quite as soon as I'd like...)

Sunday, June 7, 2009

There's no movies this summer that are calling me to the theaters. Everything this year seems to be a spin-off of something else! And it all seems to be something I don't really care about.

You got "X-Men Origins: Wolverine": a prequel, you got "Terminator: Salvation": the sequel no one asked for, and "Star Trek": which someone explained to me in such a complicated fashion, I had to finally figure it out and say, "It's a sequel, a prequel, and a reboot?" To which they replied, "Yep!"

And yeah, there's other sequels out there now, but I'm not going to pick out every single one. It's like, every movie is a remake, a sequel, a prequel, a midquel (meaning it takes place during another movie or story), a reboot of a long-dead series, or a re-hash of an idea that feels like it's been done a million times.

Just about the only movies that feel original are either not from this country, or are actually based on a book that went without a movie adaptation until now.

This leads me to ask: where is the creativity in Hollywood? No one has it! You remember seeing an old movie, then found out it was based on a book, and then you found the book, read it, and discovered that it was almost completely different from the movie? At least that shows some originality!

Now, there are some original movies out there. Those Christian movies like Facing the Giants and Fireproof come to mind, but they have a problem... they feel underdone. (And in the case of those Christian movies, just a bit too preachy and Sunday School-ish.)

And on the chance someone does make an actually good original movie, it either flops, or does well and gets buried by terrible SEQUELS! I don't know about you, but when I hear a movie has a long list of sequels, I tend to avoid it. Because, if you see one, you feel obligated to see the rest. (It was only my serious lack of interest that the original Friday the 13th was the only movie from that series I watched.)

Just about the only movies with original stories that do well are these Disney/Pixar movies, and other family fare. The thing is, I'm not a kid anymore, I don't have kids, and these tend to get sappy.

And don't get me started on those parody movies! They're all terrible!

The industry is wondering why YouTube has such a large appeal. Here's the reason: homemade videos are usually original, and if they're not, they're short, and didn't rob you of $7-20 for a ticket.

I miss the good old days when movies were made to be quality entertainment, and not just to make money. Sure, back then, making money was an aim, but they would also strive to make a quality product. It just goes to show...

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever. Just haven't had anything to say that strikes me as blog-worthy.

I've been tired a LOT recently... In the morning, when I get up, at night, before I go to bed. Yesterday, I had three cups of coffee, two in the early morning between 8 and 10 AM, and one in the evening about 7:30PM... and I loved all three of them.

Well, actually, last night, I heard my friend Taphas say he was moving over to my side of town, so I told him, "Hey, if you want, you can move in with me, and the rent would be just $195 a month for each of us." He said he'd consider it, but we'll see how that works out.

That would make things a lot easier on me. I went grocery shopping to get by until next payday, and now have a frightfully small bank balance.

Also, been working around with video today. I have that HD camcorder, but the 32GB card I won a bid on eBay for has never arrived, even though I always pay for my eBay items right after I win them. (Which is why I'm a gold star eBay buyer...) I placed a non-receipt claim on the $12.50 transaction for it with PayPal, and... *sigh* the seller hasn't responded yet, and PayPal asked them to do so by June 6th.

... But anyways... My video editor can't use the mp4 files the camcorder makes, so I have to convert them, but ALL of the video converters I have either made the video take a noticeable hit in quality, or gave me a glitched file that was shown at the wrong aspect ratio.

I am convinced technology's main purpose is to aid mankind as it annoys the heck out of him.